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Project Summary

Project

The City of Seattle oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in public works projects every year. For several years, procurement followed a manual construction bidding process with little oversight and high document management costs. City planners needed a software solution that would standardize the procurement process across city departments and increase organizational transparency while maintaining the autonomy of individual departments to manage their own procurement budgets.

Solution

The City of Seattle chose Bentley procurement software and deployed its supplier management, sourcing, and bidding functionality across the organization. The application simultaneously allows for autonomy and increased oversight. Project managers, bid evaluators, and bid administrators all have data permission levels relevant to their bid roles and responsibilities. Each department manages its own bids, while the Department of Finance and Administration Services (FAS) provides oversight to ensure standardization and accuracy.

Outcome

Now, more than 140 city employees participate in a more standardized purchasing process. From 2013 to 2016, the City of Seattle successfully awarded contracts totaling USD 500 million through their procurement portal – all while saving time and money using electronic document management and automated processes. Departments can now access a growing pool of over 7,000 qualiﬁed vendors and see a steady increase in bid competition. At the same time, vendors have gained online access to key bid information and are responsible to maintain their own company proﬁles.

Software

With Bentley procurement software, the City of Seattle successfully replaced manual tasks with automated processes, reducing bid management time by an estimated 50 to 70 percent. City departments follow a more standardized purchasing process, saving time and money through decreased administrative and document management costs. Each department maintained its autonomy, and the procurement process is now much more consistent and transparent.

Outcome/Facts

The City of Seattle implemented Bentley procurement software to electronically manage sourcing processes and change work methods.